Bali Benoa as an International Port for Export

The Expense and Delay of Overland Trans-Shipments Increase Calls for the Expansion of Bali's Port of Benoa.

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(1/26/2007)

Plans by the government to encourage exports from Bali by upgrading two seaports in East Java has received a less-than-enthusiastic reception by Bali exporters and freight-forwarders who see the maximization of Bali's Benoa port as a more workable solution to upgrading the competitiveness of Bali-produced products for export.

This was the message recently publicly delivered by the Chairman of the Association of Freight & Cargo Forwarders (GAFEKSI) Bagus John Sujayana and the Chairman of the Association of Producers and Exporters of Indonesian Handicrafts (ASEPHI) Ngurah Citra.

Quoted in the Indonesian language Bali Post, both Sujayana and Citra called on the provincial government to more seriously consider the aspirations of their members to make Benoa Harbor a center for national exports.

According to Sujayana, the recent Lapindo mud flood disaster near Surabaya which has closed the Southern toll way leading into Surabaya had underlined the need for Bali's to develop its own export port and the need to remove the added burden on East Javaís highways of large trucks carrying cargo between Bali and Surabaya.